Martin Luther King & My Flat Tire – Conyers, Georgia

Published on January 20, 2015

So, this morning I set my alarm for 4am, 4:15, 4:30, 4:45 and I finally get up a 5a. The clothing decisions. The ironing board… you know the drill. Everything but checking/charging the
film camera for the 11th Annual MLK Breakfast at LongHorn Steakhouse. Of course I get to the event 7am and set up, only to find the camera batteries (both of them, really???) were D.E.A.D. So, the quick thinker realized an extension cord was necessary if I was gonna do what I do here every year. I guesstimate the event will kick of in 20 or 30min/after everyone gets their food. I jump in my car and get moving (just 4 miles away) for my extension cord. BOOM! WOBBLE-WOBBLE-WOBBLE! The passenger’s side tire blows. WHOA!

INHALE… DON’T PANIC. YOU GOT THIS.

My senses still sharp, tho not yet fed, I realized a tire repair shop was just a block away. I slow-roll past the Package Store (thats beverages, for you up-north folk), then Brenda Lee VanDixon-Chappell (the original RepoQueen) and finally Bank of America. I’m dressed in a sharp blazer, shirt & tie today. Its bitter cold, so I must look like a tourist for those who don’t know me. But I was warm with desire to get back on the job by any means necessary. A couple a phone calls to see if there were any late-comers who might be headed to Longhorn…no dice. After laying the keys on the driver’s side wheel and a quick prayer that this tire shop was not on some “I have a day off because he had a dream-trip”, I stand stranded thinking, braving the cold, looking for my options. Theres a gas station/a taxi on the property. ‪#‎Boom‬. Grab the number from the cab. 2 minutes pass and I’m in the rear, on the way to the extension cord, finally back to Longhorn all the while telling the cab driver my story/how I planned to be perfect this morning and how Murphy came to visit.

Exhale…

Back in time for breakfast, for to film the event, and the car/tire was fixed and waiting for me. All in all my state of mind led to my calm. My calm helped me to overcome. Pastor Billie Cox delivered a moving speech this morning, asking folk “Are We There Yet?” Well, damned if I wasn’t. ‪#‎Justsayin‬ Thanks Dr. King, for all that you are, moving entire generations of people forward/faster. ‪#‎Relentless‬